


Something Good Just Might Come Crashing From The Stars

by anchoredlou



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fake Relationship, M/M, and trying to convince others they are in a relationship, but mostly just two fools getting to know each other, but wish they were, happy ending eventually when this thing is done, there's going to be a bit of pining probably, these tags are shit I apologise, which they aren't
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 06:45:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5995462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anchoredlou/pseuds/anchoredlou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the bottom of the ad it says:<br/>“I’m 25 and very much interested in guys only. No one will buy me dating any woman so please, guys only, must be 21 or over.”<br/>Beneath that there’s a number and Harry only hesitates for a few seconds before he grabs his phone and starts dialling.<br/>It rings. Once. Twice.<br/>“Hello?” a soft voice speaks at the other end of the line.<br/>“Um, hi, my name’s Harry, I saw your ad at the library and I’d be interested in doing the full programme. See, my mum’s been nagging me…”<br/>A laugh interrupts him.<br/>“You’re an eager one, aren’t you? Hi Harry, it’s good to hear from you. I’m Louis.”<br/>-<br/>AU where Harry is desperate to find a fake boyfriend for Valentine's Day and Louis might just be the right person for that. Cue the romance, that is, of course, only fake and never real. At least that's what they tell themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Good Just Might Come Crashing From The Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [infinitelymint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitelymint/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY [HEIDI](infinitelymint.tumblr.com)! I know you love fake relationship au's so when I saw [this post](http://daysundercover.tumblr.com/post/137820253192/the-au-possibilities) something had to be done.  
> Thanks for always being a sweet and lovely friend. You deserve the world (and so much better than this fic)!
> 
> title from Bic Runga's ["Something Good"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTRk4eXxwzA)

The phone rings. Harry groans. He knows it’s his mum. She’s been trying to reach him all day and he’s been trying to ignore his phone ringing ever since.

Thing is, he doesn’t want to talk to her because he knows how it’s going to go.

She always calls after a date night. And every time he has to tell her that no, this guy wasn’t right for him. And every time she sighs and says “Oh sweetie, but your plan was to have settled down by the time you’re 25. Time’s ticking away. Maybe you need to work on your list.”

The list. Harry’s compiled a list of what his ideal guy would be like over the years and contrary to his mum he doesn’t believe he’s being too specific or too picky, he just wants to make sure he’s got the right person to spend the rest of his life with, that’s surely not too much to ask, right?

He wouldn’t know what to scratch from that list.

Basically, he’s looking for someone

  * who is nice
  * who has a nice smile (bonus: a nice bum too)
  * who has a good sense of humour
  * but can also laugh about himself
  * who you don’t mind doing nothing with
  * who will watch a tear jerker movie but also football games
  * who you can have fun with
  * who is ambitious
  * but who is also supportive
  * who loves children



Honestly, why compromise on any of these things?

He’s tried, he really has. He went to dates with many different types of guys and while some of them might have been fun for one night, none of them even came close to what he is looking for.

Last night was no difference. Harry has no idea why Nick thought Harry and Aaron would be a good match.

Aaron is a banker, and when Harry says he’s a banker, he means it. Including all the stereotypes. Aaron picked him up for their dinner date. Hair slicked back with just a dollop too much of hair gel. Too much aftershave. Pinstriped suit and perfectly ironed crisp shirt. They went to a tacky Italian restaurant where Aaron made sure to mention in advance he’d pay for the bill, of course, and chose a wine that was so dry Harry gulped down his whole glass of water after taking one sip. Aaron sure was ambitious. He knew what he wanted, and what he wanted was a career. He didn’t care for wasting time doing nothing. When he didn’t work, he worked out. He certainly wasn’t familiar with humour and didn’t laugh at any of Harry’s attempted jokes (which, to be fair, weren’t that great that night, but he could’ve at least pretended, okay?). So when Aaron dropped Harry back off at his flat they parted with a kiss to the cheek and nothing more.

Harry definitely needs to have a word with Nick and make him suffer for it.

But his mum first.

“Yea, hi mum,” he picks up the phone.

“Sweetheart! So good to hear you! I hope I’m not disturbing anything, am I?”

Harry takes a deep breath. “No, you’re not. Everything good. Just had a lie in, I guess.”

He lets his mum chatter on for a while, talking about what her cats have done, and the meal Robin’s prepared for dinner, humming every now and then to prove he’s listening (he isn’t) til his mother pauses.

“So, are you in?” she asks after a couple of minutes.

“Wait, what?”

“Valentine’s Day, Harry. I just told you about our plans. Dinner at ours. Robin and me, Gemma and Michal, you and…?”

Harry gasps. “Mum, I don’t know I’m ready for him to meet the family yet!”

And where has that come from? Who is he even talking about? Abort right now, right the fuck now before…

“I KNEW IT,” his mum squeals. “I knew you found someone who you haven’t introduced us to yet. Harry, that’s so unlike you. We don’t have secrets! Not like that! Come on, tell me more, who is he?”

And fuck. What now?

“Actually mum, I…., “ but wait, this is a chance to get his mum off his back for a while. He can pretend to have a boyfriend. Someone who maybe isn’t like anything on his list. And then he can have his heart broken by this boyfriend and then his mum will realise that all that pushing isn’t good…

“I’ll talk to him about dinner, mum. It’s our first Valentine’s day and it’s all so fresh, I don’t want to jinx it really. But I’ve got to go now, got to hang up my washing before it gets too crinkly. Okay bye!”

He hangs up before his mum can reply. So, he’s got two weeks to find a fake boyfriend who he can fake break-up with.

That shouldn’t be too hard, right?

 

~~~~~

 

Harry can admit when he’s wrong and God, he was wrong.

Finding a fake boyfriend has turned out to be quite the task and none of Harry’s friends agreed to get involved. Neither themselves nor any of their friends. And Harry really doesn’t want to ask any of his old dates. He doesn’t want to get their hopes up. The guy who will be his fake boyfriend needs to be on the same page as him, he doesn’t want any feelings getting hurt over this.

And Harry’s contemplated so many options. He has even considered making up a boyfriend altogether but he can’t do that. He knows he won’t be able to convince his family.

It’s a cold and rainy day and Harry thinks about how he can get out of this mess as he enters the library. He sometimes goes there when he needs some space to think. Sometimes he picks up a book or a play and gets lost in the worlds that have nothing to do with what is going on in his life. Sometimes he just sits down and stares out the window, sipping on a cup of tea.

This time however, he decides to stop at the black board where people sometimes put up ads for small plays or stuff to sell. His attention is drawn to a red piece of paper with handwriting, the headline in capital letters reading **“RENT ME FOR V-DAY”**. 

"Who on earth needs that..” Harry murmurs when he halts.

He needs it. He needs someone for Valentine’s Day.

He’d never had thought he would be the one to actually pay for someone’s company but beggars can’t be choosers, eh.

He removes the pin holding the ad to the board and takes the ad with him to the comfy wing chair in the far corner.

As he sits down he begins to read the scribbly handwriting:

_“I offer different packages:_  
_The We Dating - £40 (incl. chocolate)_  
_The Romantic Dinner - £50 (incl. photo for Facebook or Instagram, you pay for our meals)_  
_The Dinner With The Parents - £60, or £80 if I have to play with younger siblings_  
_The Love Birds - £90 (incl. handholding), £120 for a kiss_  
_The OMG They Are Dating - £300 (we start dating asap, update our relationship status on Facebook, add photos, kiss in front of family and friends, keep up appearances for two weeks after V-Day)”_

And, okay, this guy surely knows what people need. What Harry needs.

At the bottom of the ad it says:

_“I’m 25 and very much interested in guys only. No one will buy me dating any woman so please, guys only, must be 21 and over.”_

Beneath that there’s a number and Harry only hesitates for a few seconds before he grabs his phone and starts dialling.

It rings. Once. Twice.

“Hello?” a soft voice speaks at the other end of the line.

“Um, hi, my name’s Harry, I saw your ad at the library and I’d be interested in doing the full programme. See, my mum’s been nagging me…”

A laugh cuts him off.

“You’re an eager one, aren’t you? Hi Harry, it’s good to hear from you. I’m Louis.”

Louis. That sounds like a good name. And he has a nice laugh.

“Yea I’m sorry. I’m just a little desperate and then I saw your ad and I really need someone for the full dating thing, and I’ve been looking for days now and I haven’t found anyone, so I just thought I’d try, I guess?” Harry falls over his own words.

“Oh no worries, darling. Try is a good thing. Are you at the library right now? Cause I’m at the Starbucks just across the street so we could meet and talk in person, if you fancy?”

Harry stands up and looks down at his outfit. His brown boots covered in mud, black skinny jeans and a big grey hoodie. His hair is tied back in a bun because this weather always gets his hair especially frizzy. Yet, he knows he looks good. So it’s now or never, really.

“Sure, I’ll be there in a minute. I… I’m tall-ish, got brown hair in a bun, black coat and skinnies… I…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll find me. I’m the one wearing a sweater with reindeer humping. And if you want, I can put a napkin on my head or something. Unfortunately don’t have any roses on me I could put in my hair or hold with my teeth.”

Harry laughs at that.

“Thank God, that would’ve been too much for a first date. I mean, anyway. See you in a minute, Louis.”

“See you, Harry.”

The call is disconnected, and it’s only now that Harry notices the librarian looking at him disapprovingly.

But he doesn’t care. He’s got a plan and a boy to meet. He can do this now.


End file.
